Auloffée Arts France

“As an amateur painter I have always had a high interest in marine subjects. Until recently I had the privilege to work closely to the marine world as a marketing manager in the industry dealing with advanced composites materials for boats building. In doing so I found many occasions to visit different shipyards worldwide and see the birth of great boats: military and commercial ships, but even more exciting : racing yachts for the America’s Cup or the Vendée Globe…

For obvious reasons I didn’t really had time to paint on the subjects but I could enjoy the beauty of naval structures, their vivid colors in the welding and carpentry workshops or during the maintenance operations. As a skipper I also enjoyed sailing with my family during holidays mostly in Brittany, France. How great it was to watch ever changing colors and strong contrasts at sea.

I became a full time marine painter two years ago and I now spend my time between Brittany, France and New Jersey in the US. I have a particular interest in Plein air painting as it is the very technique to capture the tunes, values and contrast on site. It became a real subject when we decided my son Luc (23) and myself to travel to Antarctica to paint in plein air over here and get the palette of colors differently to what we would obtain from a picture. Then we did this incredible journey on a sailing boat across the Southern Oceans to explore the Antarctic Peninsula. Our portable painting equipment carefully prepared , we could work directly on the subject , a great way to enjoy the purity of the glaciers , icebergs and mountains and try to capture their anatomy, at first sight , everything looks chaotic but when looking at it , we can see the harmony of this white continent.

Obviously, Antarctica will be my main subject for the year to come , however I still plan to paint landscapes in New Jersey.”

Pierre Bernay, March 2017

MEET THE ARTIST at Oh-la-la!FRIDAY MAY 5th, at 7pm Don’t miss the opportunity to listen to Pierre Bernay narrating is incredible journey on a sailboat to paint in “plein air” Antarctica ! A unique and extraordinary artistic and human experience he shared with his 23 years old son.